


The story of Amestris, or Vashti

by Valonianfool



Category: Bible - Fandom, Book of Esther
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:49:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24081601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valonianfool/pseuds/Valonianfool
Summary: Vashti, or Amestris tells her story after surviving for millennia as an immortal.The premise might seem very strange, but basically I was inspired by two things: the first is how there is a large disrepancy between how many jewish feminist view Vashti vs the portrayal of her character as immodest and evil in the babylonian Talmud. Luckily, many jewish feminists have rightfully criticized these texts as sexist. A jewish person also told me that the beauty of the midrash is that you are supposed to question and reject it of you want.The second Influence was the idea of a biblical figure becoming immortal and surviving to tell their story in the modern day.
Kudos: 1





	The story of Amestris, or Vashti

I have lived for over two millennia, witnessed empires rise and fall and experienced enough joy and grief to last a hundred lifetimes, but in all those years I never had a better husband than Khashayar.  
I want to make that clear. He never banished me, nor did he ever order me to appear before his guests wearing nothing but a crown. My Azizam was nothing but a gentleman, something quite unusual for his time.  
Of course, the story got around differently.  
Some say that I had wanted to appear before the gaggle of drunken guests and was only stopped because the Lord saw fit to give me leprosy, or a tail. Others claim that I had acted like a queen, cleverly subverting his demands to keep my dignity. Whatever the case, they maintain that I was banished, and that a new queen took my place and saved her people from an evil vizier. How much of that story is true I will not say, but I will tell you mine.  
The name my people knew me as was Amestris, daughter of Otanes of Persia. As a reward for his military services to the crown, father married into the royal family and I was betrothed to the crown prince, Khashayar the first. I was such a fool back then; a fiery young child who thought the world her oyster, but as time went on, I had to become ruthless. Now, I am not saying that I never did an evil deed, anyone who says they haven’t is lying through their teeth.  
And just for the record, I didn’t order any of my maidservants to work unclothed on their holy day. No one received my wrath unless they harmed my family.  
Years passed. I grew old and retired to my brother’s palace in Miletus, hoping to spend my final days in peace and leaving the intrigue of court life behind, but my god had other plans. An elderly priest came to visit, saying that he would give me a gift more valuable than all the wealth in the world. He opened a box, inside of it was a glowing, red stone. He told me that it was a reward for my husband’s benevolence towards the magi.  
I thanked him and kept the box by my bedside. Eventually curiosity got the better of me and I took the stone to inspect it, but it seemed to be nothing special.  
Two decades went by before I discovered that I hadn’t aged. Those closest to me kept it a secret, for there are plenty of rumors to be had about an immortal queen. They told the world I was my mother’s cousin, and so I lived comfortably for a few centuries before Alexander of Macedon conquered our empire.  
This was a long ago.  
In the end, my true gift was to be able to tell my story to anyone who wants to listen, no matter how many centuries passed.

**Author's Note:**

> Azizam means "darling".
> 
> Xerxes I was a devout zoroastrian, he even raided a temple of Marduk.


End file.
